Chris Lowe

Connecticut-via-Chicago hip-hop artist Chris Lowe first started out as an up-and-coming beatsmith in the late '80s and early '90s, cultivating his skills in the same school of golden age hip-hop as esteemed producers <a href="spotify:artist:2VX0o9LDIVmKIgpnwdJpOJ">Erick Sermon</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:01nVIuD8YZsnFH6x6Cc9rX">Large Professor</a>. Along with partner <a href="spotify:artist:2gUUhiF34k8Oc6wGW8zApR">Dooley-O</a>, Lowe was responsible for producing <a href="spotify:artist:3LQ9BcQKzjSSmBDAN39ZBA">Stezo</a>'s 1989 rap hit "It's My Turn," which is credited as being the first record to use the widely sampled breakbeat from <a href="spotify:artist:1UMfAdvEOF6ly4dPiR5oWJ">the Skull Snaps</a>' "It's a New Day." Having studied under legendary '80s hip-hop producer Paul C, as did frequent Lowe collaborator <a href="spotify:artist:01nVIuD8YZsnFH6x6Cc9rX">Large Professor</a>, he mainly worked with <a href="spotify:artist:3zpKjsMg2gw1St5WcWoUJN">EPMD</a> and their crew <a href="spotify:artist:2P3NQhZRCK3FFy8HIwt1T8">the Hit Squad</a> in that same late-'80s/early-'90s time period. However, due to label hang-ups, Lowe barely had any output as a producer or an MC during the rest of the '90s, except for a few 12" singles here and there. Lowe's first two solo LPs, Black Life (2004) and Black Life 2: The Next Thing Smokin' (2007), didn't arrive until well over a decade after his initial work. The former album was a combination of new tracks and those obscure 12" records, but it was still fresh for most listeners, containing features from <a href="spotify:artist:01nVIuD8YZsnFH6x6Cc9rX">Large Professor</a>, Parrish Smith (of <a href="spotify:artist:3zpKjsMg2gw1St5WcWoUJN">EPMD</a>), and <a href="spotify:artist:7fDLDq2weBagiAFD2j17Al">Sadat X</a> as well as <a href="spotify:artist:2gUUhiF34k8Oc6wGW8zApR">Dooley-O</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3LQ9BcQKzjSSmBDAN39ZBA">Stezo</a>. Moreover, the LP earned Lowe a spot on URB magazine's Hot 100 artists of 2004. The follow-up album had all new material but no guest appearances. Both LPs, however, aired out his gripes with contemporary hip-hop; their '90s-styled boom-bap productions made his records sought-after products for hip-hop traditionalists. ~ Cyril Cordor, Rovi